JALANDHAR, 4 May — An Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter jet caught fire in midair and crashed into a bustling commercial zone in the northern city of Jalandhar yesterday, killing at least eight people, officials said.

Sixteen others, mostly employees of a state-own bank, were seriously injured when flaming debris from the Russian-built aircraft fell on the building in the heart of this frontier city, they said.

The crash, the second of a military jet in the region since February, unnerved the air force, which immediately banned training flights on a special fleet of single-seater MiG jets recently upgraded by their Russian manufacturers. Air Force chief S. Krishnaswamy in New Delhi announced the grounding of 72 MiG-21s of the type that crashed and ordered a comprehensive probe into the crash.

"The grounding will not affect the operational flying of the air force which is in a state of high alert in the wake of the stand-off with Pakistan," he said, referring to the heightened military tensions between the two South Asian rivals.

The aircraft took off from an airbase in the garrison town of Adampur at 9:40 a.m. on a training flight and 25 minutes later caught fire midair and exploded over Jalandhar’s busiest district, city police chief P.S. Gill said. The MiG’s wings sheared off in the air and its blazing fuselage rocketed into the Bank of Rajasthan building five minutes after it had opened for business at 10:00 a.m., he said.

Eight people, including four bank employees, were killed and 15 others including 10 more bank workers were injured, mostly suffering serious burns after being doused in flaming aviation fuel. The bank’s Chief Manager B.K. Mathur and his deputy, S. Kanolia, were in their offices which bore the brunt of the crash, the police said, adding the two executives were hospitalized in a critical condition. The pilot, Flight Lt. S.K. Naik, ejected when the aircraft went out of control and landed safely.

Witnesses said the crash and ensuing inferno sparked panic in the bustling district. "It was horrible. We saw the plane catch fire in air and then a huge blast took place and it crashed while it wings fell elsewhere," said a city trader. Some 300 soldiers backed by air force personnel and Fire Department personnel rushed to the site as a warehouse packed with timber caught fire, rescuers said, adding the blaze was put out after eight hours.